Placement of service delivery locations of a distributed computing service based on logical topology

• US 8,892,708 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2011
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Merrill, Joshua, Dai, Huida, Zhu, Jiang, Kapur, Sukhdev, Banerjee, Subrata, Ganesan, Ashok, Zhang, Shujin, Medved, Jan, Elder, Danny
• Primary Examiner(s): Wasel, Mohamed
• Application Number:
  US13/180,331
• Publication Number:
  US 20130018999A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,226 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/226
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/122 of virtualised topologies, e.g. software-defined networks [SDN] or network function virtualisation [NFV]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5041 characterised by the time relationship between creation and deployment of a service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5096 wherein the managed service relates to distributed or central networked applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method comprises receiving a request for a distributed service, the distributed service offered by a service provider via a data communications network having service delivery locations reachable via a prescribed physical topology; identifying the service delivery locations within a prescribed logical topology overlying the prescribed physical topology, the prescribed logical topology segregating the distributed service from other network traffic on the prescribed physical topology; and identifying one or more of the service delivery locations optimized for providing the distributed service to at least one service consumption location in the prescribed logical topology according to a prescribed service level agreement with the service provider.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request for a distributed service, the distributed service offered by a service provider via a data communications network having service delivery locations reachable via a prescribed physical topology;

identifying the service delivery locations within a prescribed logical topology overlying the prescribed physical topology, the prescribed logical topology segregating the distributed service from other network traffic on the prescribed physical topology; and

identifying one or more of the service delivery locations optimized for providing the distributed service to at least one service consumption location in the prescribed logical topology according to a prescribed service level agreement with the service provider.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the identifying of the service delivery locations within the prescribed logical topology includes identifying logical endpoints within the prescribed logical topology, and identifying, from among the logical endpoints, first logical endpoints for placement of the service delivery locations, and at least one second logical endpoint for placement of the at least one service consumption location;

the identifying the one or more service delivery locations as optimized for providing the distributed service including generating an ordered list of the service delivery locations based on ranking the service delivery locations at the respective first logical endpoints relative to the at least one second logical endpoint of the at least one service consumption location, based on the prescribed service level agreement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of the service delivery locations within the prescribed logical topology is based on any one of:

a label distribution protocol implemented within the prescribed logical topology according to a prescribed multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) protocol,

identification of a common virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier within the prescribed logical topology implementing the prescribed logical topology according to virtual Private LAN service (VPLS), or

a prescribed protocol for transporting link layer packets over an Internet Protocol (IP)/MPLS backbone.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the prescribed logical topology establishes a private network offered by the service provider to multiple users utilizing the distributed service according to the prescribed service level agreement, the prescribed logical topology providing link layer based multipoint layer 2 virtual private network (VPN) service between the service delivery locations and the at least one service consumption location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the one or more service delivery locations as optimized includes providing an ordered list of the service delivery locations, the ordered list providing a ranking of the service delivery locations relative to the at least one service consumption location, the ordered list specifying, for each service delivery location, an aggregated score representing a relative optimal placement of the corresponding service delivery location relative to the at least one service consumption location.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the aggregated score for each service delivery location is based on aggregating proximity results for a plurality of the service consumption locations, the aggregating of the proximity results based on weighting virtual path parameters between each service delivery location and each service consumption location with service-level agreement attributes, and aggregating the weighted virtual path parameters for each service delivery location across the service consumption locations.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the distributed service is a cloud computing service.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a network interface circuit configured for receiving a request for a distributed service, the distributed service offered by a service provider via a data communications network having service delivery locations reachable via a prescribed physical topology; and

a processor circuit configured for identifying the service delivery locations within a prescribed logical topology overlying the prescribed physical topology, the prescribed logical topology segregating the distributed service from other network traffic on the prescribed physical topology;

the processor circuit configured for generating, for output by the network interface circuit, an identification of one or more of the service delivery locations optimized for providing the distributed service to at least one service consumption location in the prescribed logical topology according to a prescribed service level agreement with the service provider.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the processor circuit is configured for identifying the service delivery locations within the prescribed logical topology based on identifying logical endpoints within the prescribed logical topology, and identifying, from among the logical endpoints, first logical endpoints for placement of the service delivery locations, and at least one second logical endpoint for placement of the at least one service consumption location;

the processor circuit further configured for generating the identification, of one or more of the service delivery locations optimized for providing the service, as an ordered list of the service delivery locations based on ranking the service delivery locations at the respective first logical endpoints relative to the at least one second logical endpoint of the at least one service consumption location, based on the prescribed service level agreement.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor circuit is configured for identifying the service delivery locations within the prescribed logical topology based on any one of:

a label distribution protocol implemented within the prescribed logical topology according to a prescribed multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) protocol,

identification of a common virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier within the prescribed logical topology implementing the prescribed logical topology according to virtual Private LAN service (VPLS), or

a prescribed protocol for transporting link layer packets over an Internet Protocol (IP)/MPLS backbone.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the prescribed logical topology establishes a private network offered by the service provider to multiple users utilizing the distributed service according to the prescribed service level agreement, the prescribed logical topology providing link layer based multipoint layer 2 virtual private network (VPN) service between the service delivery locations and the at least one service consumption location.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor circuit is configured for generating the identification as an ordered list of the service delivery locations, the ordered list providing a ranking of the service delivery locations relative to the at least one service consumption location, the ordered list specifying, for each service delivery location, an aggregated score representing a relative optimal placement of the corresponding service delivery location relative to the at least one service consumption location.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the aggregated score for each service delivery location is based on the processor circuit aggregating proximity results for a plurality of the service consumption locations, the aggregating of the proximity results based on the processor circuit weighting virtual path parameters between each service delivery location and each service consumption location with service-level agreement attributes, and the processor circuit aggregating the weighted virtual path parameters for each service delivery location across the service consumption locations.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the distributed service is a cloud computing service.

15. Logic encoded in one or more non-transitory tangible media for execution and when executed operable for:

receiving a request for a distributed service, the distributed service offered by a service provider via a data communications network having service delivery locations reachable via a prescribed physical topology;

identifying the service delivery locations within a prescribed logical topology overlying the prescribed physical topology, the prescribed logical topology segregating the distributed service from other network traffic on the prescribed physical topology; and

identifying one or more of the service delivery locations optimized for providing the distributed service to at least one service consumption location in the prescribed logical topology according to a prescribed service level agreement with the service provider.

16. The logic of claim 15, wherein:

the identifying of the service delivery locations within the prescribed logical topology includes identifying logical endpoints within the prescribed logical topology, and identifying, from among the logical endpoints, first logical endpoints for placement of the service delivery locations, and at least one second logical endpoint for placement of the at least one service consumption location;

the identifying the one or more service delivery locations as optimized for providing the distributed service including generating an ordered list of the service delivery locations based on ranking the service delivery locations at the respective first logical endpoints relative to the at least one second logical endpoint of the at least one service consumption location, based on the prescribed service level agreement.

17. The logic of claim 15, wherein the identification of the service delivery locations within the prescribed logical topology is based on any one of:

a label distribution protocol implemented within the prescribed logical topology according to a prescribed multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) protocol,

identification of a common virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier within the prescribed logical topology implementing the prescribed logical topology according to virtual Private LAN service (VPLS), or

a prescribed protocol for transporting link layer packets over an Internet Protocol (IP)/MPLS backbone.

18. The logic of claim 15, wherein the prescribed logical topology establishes a private network offered by the service provider to multiple users utilizing the distributed service according to the prescribed service level agreement, the prescribed logical topology providing link layer based multipoint layer 2 virtual private network (VPN) service between the service delivery locations and the at least one service consumption location.

19. The logic of claim 15, wherein the identifying the one or more service delivery locations as optimized includes providing an ordered list of the service delivery locations, the ordered list providing a ranking of the service delivery locations relative to the at least one service consumption location, the ordered list specifying, for each service delivery location, an aggregated score representing a relative optimal placement of the corresponding service delivery location relative to the at least one service consumption location.

20. The logic of claim 19, wherein the distributed service is a cloud computing service.